As part of its economic recovery plan, the Obama administration in 2009 tried to invigorate a nascent form of technology known as “carbon capture and storage,” or CCS.
The Energy Department invested $1.1 billion in 11 projects — eight coal facilities and three industrial sites — to show how the technology could trap and hold carbon dioxide emissions from existing plants. Seven of the eight projects were never built. Two of the three industrial locations began operating. And the CCS coal facility that did come online closed down in 2020.
All told, the department spent about $300 million more than planned on projects that were never built, according to a Government Accountability Office review.
